United Nations sanctions committee bans 4 ships from entering ports

Four ships identified as carrying goods banned by united nations resolutions, are prohibited from entering any ports in the world, announced on Monday Hugh Griffiths, co-ordinator of the expert folder of north korea.

The UN representative also added that the ban came into force on 5 October, but it does not provide for the freezing of assets and ban on entry.

The UN Security Council expanded sanctions on North Korea last month in response to Pyongyang's sixth and largest nuclear test yet.

In August, the United Nations adopted a resolution prohibiting North Korea from exporting coal, seafood and iron ore.

The new sanctions severely restrict the DPRK's oil imports, and ban its textile exports worth 800 million USA dollars and the remittances from about 93,000 overseas DPRK laborers.

We are talking about the ship Petrel 8, Hao Fan 6, and 2 San Tong Shun Jie, registered in the Comoros, Saint Kitts and Nevis and North Korea.

As agreed by EU Foreign Ministers at their informal meeting in Tallinn on September 7, 2017, "the Council is now working on possible additional EU autonomous sanctions to complement and reinforce the UN Security Council sanctions", the statement said.

North Korean diplomats were present at the meeting but did not speak, according to diplomats. The registered country of Jie Shun is not listed. "Just a means. But of course, to be effective, sanctions must be applied by everybody", he added.

He was referring to the committee by its official name after resolution 1718 - the first sanctions measure that was imposed on North Korea following its first underground nuclear test in 2006.

Pyongyang on September 3 detonated a hydrogen bomb capable of being carried by an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the sixth nuclear test it has undertaken, running counter to relevant UN Security Council resolutions and the goal of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.

In addition to informing member states about the four new designations, Griffiths also pointed to concerns about sanctions evasions that seem to be continuing, particularly with regard to the export of coal.